Suze,, sorry tipping the maid is not a common practice, but it is a practice, that I admit. It is almost always done by Americans, and usually by those staying in nicer places then Motel 6s.

The point is, those who choose not to tip the hotel maids are not cheap,, they may in fact be the same people who volunteer at their local soup kitchen, give to cancer, donate blood, they may in other words just as good and kind as anyone else, but they don't feel the need to tip paid staff except food servers.. which btw is mostly a North American habit due to your absolutely atrocious minimum wage laws that allow employers to pay on the cost of paying their staff a living wage to the consumers.. Even in Canada our waitstaff get a minimum of 8 dollars an hour,, I hear in States its as low as 2-3 dollars an hour,, and its not even a third world country(yet). .
And this is not just directed at Suze, but rather at another poster also,, the big tipper, lol
Tipping 10 dollars a day to paid staff does seem excessive, but I guess it hurts no one, if you want to tip alot then go for it , no one will refuse money, but calling some people "cheap" and saying the non tippers are also stealing from buffets suggests to me that some big tippers deep down believe it makes them morally superior to non tippers.

It doesn't .

well said.

Like the similarly frustrating abortion thread running simultaneously here on Fodor's, no one is going to change anyone's mind here. This thread is pointless at this point.

>>

As I've said [more than a few times ], I detest the tipping culture in the US, but econonomically-speaking, whether the retaurant pages an atrocious minimum wage and we tip serving staff, or pages a higher wage and we don't, "the cost of paying their staff a living wage" will passed on to the consumer. Lower prices = low wages plus tips; No tips and higher wags = higher prices.

Perhaps sf7307, but we manage it in Canada, and don't think we are worse off then the States, do you?
It may take a whole rethinking, but it wouldn't be easy to sell the minority in control ( restaurant owners) that the majority ( the clients and employees) shouldn't have to ensure they ( the owners) have a profitable business by passing on the finacial burden to us.

Lets look at this another way,( make believe) suppose I own a lumber yard, I have to pay my drivers to deliver the lumber, but, what if on arrival the client was expected to tip the driver for the delivery because I only pay him 5 dollars an hour, if you don't tip him I have to pay him more, right? Does that make sense,, why do food servers get the short end of the stick, and why to restaurant owners get off paying that responsibilty onto the public, its not like that for any other job is it?

just, I don't disagree that it SHOULDN'T be that way, but that the economics will be the same whichever way it is. Your example doesn't really add anything, because I'd say the same thing -- if you're expected to tip the driver, you pay a little less for the lumber; if the driver is paid $10 an hour instead of $5, you'll pay more for the lumber.

I learn that the wait staff are taxed. On what basis since there is no documented income.I don't think anywhere in this world this can happen.Tax on hypothetical income? Can someone throw a light?

Tax on hypothetical income?

Yup! Correct-o. They figure it as a percentage of the total $ value of the food you sell each night. Since most restaurants are computerized now, it's easy for them to find that amount. It also calculates how much $ value per person a waiter sells.

The fact that you may have been tipped $0, $10, or $40+ on a $200 tab, doesn't matter. You pay taxes on the percentage they think you would have been tipped (sorry I do not know the exact % figure the government uses for this). When a waiter is "stiffed" (no tip) they pay taxes on money they did not make.

Suze, I guarantee you that more than 50% of the tips don't get reported to the IRS

"If I don't tip the maid I am not STEALING".....

but that wasn't her point. The point was that if you are going to say the REASON for your not tipping is that you're never going to see the maid again, you could use that reason for a number of other things. I'm gonna steal from a store because I'll never be there again, I'm gonna shit on the floor because I'll never go to that restaurant again.

Tipping is voluntary and you tip what you please when you please, but "because I'm never going to see them again" is a pretty lame reason to choose not to.

As for it being logical, there is no logic to the voluntary gratuity. It may be customary, but not logical. We don't tip less in states where waiters make $8.50 an hour than we do in states where they get $3 an hour. We don't tip less in high-end restaurants where the staff takes home $200 a night, and more for the poor waiters who struggle to make $40 a night. So, I don't think how MUCH they're paid has much of anything to do with it. It's a G R A T U I T Y . A little something extra for good service. A friendly maid waits til you're ready, cleans the room, does a spiffy job, gives you an extra coffee packet, smiles, is quick, everythings shiny....and you give her a little tip to show your apprecation. Or not. (And she takes your laptop.)

<Suze, I guarantee you that more than 50% of the tips don't get reported to the IRS>

Maybe that used to be true a few decades ago but since restaurant went to computer systems for taking orders & ordering food from the kitchen (therefore tracking volume of your daily sales) not so any more. They can pull a number that you are responsible for paying taxes on, *assuming* you were tipped x% on your total sales.

An individual waiters isn't on the honor system doing their own reporting like in olden days, it's tabulated by the restaurant based on the gross food sales you make each night.

Keep in mind that the maid has an average of about TWENTY MINUTES to clean your room. That includes cleaning the tub and shower and toilet, making the beds, vacuuming and tidying up. They have another few minutes to empty the trash, haul your sheets and towels to the laundry, knock on doors to see if you're ready, vacuum the hallways.

So, even if you're not a tipper, you might want to leave a lil something if you're particularly messy or have the kids in tow.

And if you're writing a review, think about how thorough you'd be at home if you only had 20 minutes. Do you really want to dis the maid service just because you found a thin layer of dust on top of the air conditioning unit? Wipe it off and move on.

And don't you figure most men tip more on the way a waitress looks. I know it's not fair at all, but I'm sure that's the case. And I have to say this, would you tip a Manly Girl? (the op)

Suze your explanation re taxing of tips applies to wait staff, but do you really think housekeeping staff declare their tips?

This is from a link I posted earlier: "The housekeepers, unlike the bellmen, are not filling out tip reporting forms," she said.

HTTY

After doing some investigating, it is recommended by most accountants for Waitstaff to report 8% of their sales. So this is about half of 15%, which is supposed to be the norm.
Most accountants tell waitstaff to not deposit more than 10% of their tips into an actual bank account.

I am amazed that till now no Public Petion or whatever you call that in the US. I think it is called Class Action.I am talking of Natural Justice How can IRS tax the waiters assuming that they are earning say10-15% of the food cost. Funny...when everyone knows that the waiters are not being tipped by everyone.

I think a class action is overdue.

In all years of experience no one can tax you on income that is not documentedf.

That's why there is a case for including a service charge to be paid to the wait staff and which can be taxed @ 5-10% by the IRS. I am sorry I am not able to read what I am typing so I have those typing hollers. Please pardon me.

Perhaps the IRS controlled by the politicians considers the tips as "kickbacks"

I am sure there is no logic at all on tax on tips..all that income should be gratis. or Or let all politicians also pay 15-20% on their kickbacks LOL

My understanding is that in many restaurants the wait staff does not get to keep the entire tip amount. It has to be shared with the bus staff, etc.

I was explaining how it worked in restaurants in response to arun_roy's post.

I don't care if housekeeping declares the tips I leave them or not.